11th Aug 2007, 04:50

So Toyota makes better engines huh. I guess that's why the modular V8 in the F-150 wins so many awards and why the Tundra 5.7's are having to be recalled for engine defects. I also here that F-150's need a new drive-train after 30,000 miles. Well that is just pure ignorance, as I work for an engineering company that uses F-150's and they aren't sent off to the auction until around 200,000 miles and almost none of them need to, or have had, their drive-trains replaced.

11th Aug 2007, 11:07

Very well said 22:36. Unfortunately, you'll never be able to convince the Toyota people. They are just going to have to go out and buy Tundra's and one-by-one have them fall apart before their eyes before they get it. Too bad our economy will suffer in the process. But of course that probably makes the Toyota faithful happy.

By the way, Toyota setting up plants in this country is not doing us any favors. In most cases Toyota was given the land, and does not have to pay taxes. Do American companies get those kind of favors... NO! They just get people who should be on their side nit-picking them to death, while their foreign competitors can turn out any kind of garbage (Tundra...) they like while those same people give them a pass.

Japan inflates the value of Japanese goods in their own country, sticking it to their own people in the short term, so they can cover selling their products in this country at reduced prices, to stifle sales of American goods in the USA, destroy those effected industries, and bring down our economy in the long term. They have been waging economic war on us for years, and you Toyota lovers are playing right into their hand. Of course I may admittedly be going out on a limb for having the notion that this might even bother some of you.

Once the Japanese's plan is complete, and the American auto industry is dead (God forbid), they will be the only game in town, and you will be at their mercy for them to not pay third world wages at their plants you love so much, and charge $30,000+ for a compact car. This is what you are enabling when you buy a Toyota. Just keep cheering on the demise of the American auto industry, and the colonization of our country by the Japanese, and see what happens.

For the record, this is nothing against the Japanese people, just their government, and our own government for letting them get away with it. As far as people who buy Toyota's are concerned, I'm sorry, but you should know better.

11th Aug 2007, 11:32

To all the blind Toyota lovers out there...

I've owned both Toyota and GM. My last three cars have been, in the following order from first to last:

1988 Olds Delta 88.

1991 Toyota Celica ST.

1995 Toyota Celica GT (with the Sports Package, which would have been designated as such with a "-S" next to the "GT" on the rear hatch had this car been registered in any country other than the U.S. that year.

The '88 Olds, which shared most drive train and engine (3800 V6) components with close Buick and Pontiac cousins, holds the most sentimental value in my mind and, I'm convinced would have outlasted the other two had my brother, whom I gave it to cuz he really needed a car, not crashed it multiple times. We finally retired it on account of structural damage. But that engine had 212,000 miles on it and did not burn any oil -- NOT A DROP. Just before very oil change, the level would be right at the top. I couldn't believe it, honestly, and I'm certain that engine could have gone another 200,000, even 300,000 miles.

The '91 Celica ST was great in its own right. Heck, I bought the thing with 210,000 miles on the odometer. I really wanted a manual (the other reason I readily transferred ownership of the Olds to my brother). That car was tight, for sure. And the engine always started. But man, did that thing eat oil. And, around 220,000, it began to blow a big cloud of blue smoke out the tailpipe every morning. So I began adding a whole quart of Lucas at every oil change. This cleared up the problem, although consumption continued essentially unabated. And finally, at 270,000 miles, even the Lucas couldn't stop the "morning blow." So, I gave the car to another relative (see a pattern here? lol...), my down-and-out aunt, who needed something that drove. With 24W-50 PLUS Lucas, she made it to 299,000 miles before totaling it in an accident (luckily, she was OK). A pang ent through me, as everyone was rooting for it to clear 300,000 miles. But, alas... that was the end, and a performance not nearly as stellar as the Olds'.

My current car, a '95 Celica GT (again, the Sports Package), has fared least well of the three. Sure, it shows 194,000 miles on the clock, but I've babied it. Here's ANOTHER Toyota that's blown blue smoke at start-up every morning. With this one, it started around 120,000 miles. To stop it, I first tried what I'd done with the '91, but Lucas alone proved inadequate. So, for the last nearly 80,000 miles, I've added a quart of Lucas AND a quart of "Restore 4-Cylinder Engine Formula" at every oil change, topping it off with regular 10W-30 or 10W-40, depending on the season. In the meantime, I had to dump $4,000 worth of repairs into it in May of last year, at around 170,000 miles. The only thing in that considered to be normal maintenance was the timing belt (a mere $350, or so, of the total) ; the rest was significant, including an almost completely rebuilt rear-end (new control arms, bushings, and struts -- and I've always taken care not to drive this car on dirt roads, etc., so that kind of repair was pretty uncalled for, in my opinion) and a bunch of other stuff that, frankly, I can't even remember.

And now my 95 GT's clutch seems ready to bite the bullet (the '91's was the original the whole time), we can't seem to get the front end quite right (still shakes on the highway, albeit it slightly, even after a tie-rod repair last month). I'm going to drive it to 200,000 miles, just to get a nice round number out of it before shopping for my next used car.

Because I enjoy standards so much, the next car may indeed be Japanese instead of domestic, but let me tell you all something I mean wholeheartedly: I have no qualms about buying a GM vehicle. Ford and Chrysler have never impressed me. My family has owned cars from all three; the Fords and Chryslers all seemed sub-par, but the GM vehicles always more than held their own against the Toyotas (and my friends' Hondas/Acuras).

I realize that a handful of GM offerings from earlier this decade were indeed lemons. That was an anomaly that has had the unfortunate effect of emboldening the knee-jerk domestic bashers to renew their efforts. I only hope GM will pull through. As I always ask people, don't you think it just might be a good idea, as a nation, for us to be able to make our own stuff?